Sansa SlotRadio to Change the Way We Pay for Music?

The Sansa SlotRadio (see CNET Review) is somewhat of a cross between an MP3 player and a radio. You could also call it an MP3 player for the lazy or those who are tech-phobic and have trouble creating playlists. One of the most interesting things, though, is the model to sell the music. Songs can be purchased 1,000 at a time for $39.99 on a miniSD card. That is pretty cheap when you compare to the $1 average price for music online.

Genres or playlists represented will include Alternative, Chillout, Contemporary, Country, R&B and Hip-Hop, Rock, and Workout music.

This mp3 player is going to be very popular for those who listen to Top 10 Pop radio a lot and don’t like to mix their own songs – either because they don’t know how or they don’t have the time. Either way, this product, with such a lot price for the songs, may have more people buying. Of course, they have to buy 1,000 songs at a time to get them cheap, but I bet you’ll see a lot of advertising touting how cheap each song is when you buy 1,000 at a time.

Getting them for pennies a song, you don’t get to pick your favorite music or even transfer the songs to your computer. That’s right, they use DRM to stick the music to the miniSD card.

Overall, though, it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. It could really shake things up a little in the music industry, something that really needs to be done. If you don’t have a lot of time to pick your own music and you’re happy with most of the music you hear on the radio, the Sansa slotRadio is going to be perfect for your music listening style and tastes.

For the rest of us, email Sansa and tell them you want a website where you can pick 1,000 songs and have them custom load them onto a card and ship it to you. (I’m rememinded of the Columbia House programs from years ago.) Anyway, the Sansa slotRadio is one to watch.